first present is obv for @galacticgalilea !! remember how i said it’s original universe gays. tbh i probably gave it away when i asked what eduard looks like.... it’s like 3 drabbles w eduard and roswald
Roswald looked at his hands, watching the muscles and tendons move as he slowly flexed and relaxed each digit of his fingers. He could feel the electric current flowing through his bones; if he concentrated, he knew, he could make it spark out his skin in a crackling aura.
Not that it did him much good inside a jail cell, but it would at least look cool.
A sigh echoed around the cell, and he glanced up at his cellmate. A recent arrival, the man had a ponytail of chestnut hair, long eyelashes, and a build to put a willow tree to shame. If Roswald remembered correctly, this was another of the new wave of supers, arrested just the other day for robbing a bank with advanced technology of his own design.
He was pretty, but had barely spoken a word to him since being put in the cell.
Given Roswald was supposed to be in for a while, he supposed that should probably change.
He coughed and cleared his throat, curling one hand in on himself to run his fingertips against his palm. “He, du.”
His cellmate jumped slightly, then turned to look at him, blinking rapidly. “Moi?”
“Ja.” He gave him a sharp, jerky nod. “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”
He couldn’t say he was really surprised when Eyelashes shook his head. Finding another German speaker was probably too much to hope. Stupid Americans. “Non. Parlez-vous français?”
“Nein.”
They looked at each other, then, “English?” left both of their mouths at the same time.
Startled in spite of himself, Roswald jumped slightly, as did Eyelashes. A small laugh escaped him, and before long Eyelashes echoed it, and they sat there for a moment, awkwardly giggling at each other.
Once it died off, Roswald cleared his throat and held out a hand. “Roswald.”
Eyelashes nodded and shook it. “Eduard.”
A pretty name for a pretty man.
The thought popped into his head before he could stop it, and he shook his head quickly to shoo it off. “I think I saw you on the news,” he said, hoping his accent wasn’t as incomprehensible as his high school peers had always complained. “With the, ah, anti-gravity, richtig?”
Eduard beamed. “Oui. My first work. Still holding up marvelously, though I think I may need some adjustments…” He squinted at him. “I know I’ve seen your face before.”
Roswald smiled and snapped his fingers, watching the electricity spark up like a Tesla coil. “Remind you of anything?”
Eduard sucked in a little gasp. “Gigavolt?”
“Ja, ja.”
Eduard hopped to his feet and crossed the cell in a stride and a half, sitting down next to him. “I’d heard on the news, and I’ve been fascinated ever since. You must tell me everything you know about your abilities. The power to harness electricity, it could- oh, it would be so helpful to my work!”
The hair on the back of Roswald’s neck stood up. He’d never been very good in close proximity to good-looking people, and Eduard was very good-looking. “Jajaja, aber, I don’t think here is the best place.”
Eduard blinked, then glanced around and nodded. “Oh, true, true, very true.” He put a hand on his chin. “Hmm… Say, how interested are you in getting out of here?”
-
Roswald flexed his hands, sucking in a breath as the small Tesla coils in his half-assembled gauntlets rattled with power. “Eduard, mein Freund, they’re quite nice, but are these really a fair repayment for helping you out of prison?”
Eduard glanced up, reaching up to lift his goggles up to see him better. “Oh, I suppose you’re right,” he said, voice far too casual for a man working with live electricity. “Consider it a favor to be repaid, perhaps?”
Roswald considered, then shrugged. “I suppose that works. However, as a German, you should know, I don’t like to be in debt for long.”
“Oui, you Germans and your pride in self-reliance. I’ll think of a way for you to repay me, don’t worry.”
“That worries me, Eduard.”
Eduard laughed, going back to his work. “You fuss so much, Roswald, it can’t be healthy.”
“I don’t think you fuss enough, Eduard.”
“Nonsense, nonsense. I fuss a perfectly acceptable amount. You Germans are just too… how do you say, anal-retentive.”
Roswald snorted. “Frenchmen. So careless.”
“Well, this careless Frenchman is making you power-augmenting gloves, so you can just hush.”
Roswald rolled his eyes but held still, watching as Eduard tightened screws and connected wires. It was, admittedly, fascinating to watch him work. He had notes and blueprints scattered around, but he was barely looking at them, already knowing everything by heart. Or maybe figuring it all out as he went, who knew? A lock of hair had escaped his ponytail and was now hanging down in front of his face, and he periodically puffed out a breath to try to push it away, to little avail.
Roswald couldn’t believe he thought a Frenchman was cute.
“Alright,” Eduard said finally, startling Roswald out of his musings as he clamped a piece of metal into place. “Try them now. Just… I don’t know, give it a little current.”
Roswald hesitated. “You might want to get back.”
“Hm? Oh, right.” Eduard shook his head, then hopped backwards. “Is that good?”
Roswald nodded, then inhaled deeply. Here went nothing.
He let the breath out slow, feeling the energy surge through his muscles. With every cubic centimeter his lungs depressed, the building charge spread further. He had to stay in control the whole breath; by the time there was a usable charge, it would be at his fingertips.
Which was why it was a surprise when the gloves Eduard had just wired to his nervous system activated when it had only gotten to his elbows.
The miniature Tesla coils sparked, then buzzed, and he jumped nearly out of his skin. “Scheisse!”
Focus lost, the charge fizzled out, and Eduard made a noise that sounded halfway between a giggle and a huff. “Well, it worked,” he said, lips struggling with a grin. “Now we just need you to keep working.”
Roswald snorted. “It startled me. That’s all. They activated earlier than I’m used to.”
Eduard nodded. “Good, they’re supposed to. They’re tapping into your natural abilities and amplifying them. Here, I think I can adjust it so you’ll have more control.”
Roswald held the gloves out automatically, and Eduard moved in, a screwdriver seeming to materialize in his hand. “Oh, and I thought of how you can repay me,” he added, too casually. “You could always go to dinner with me. I know this lovely little diner…”
-
Roswald yawned and wriggled deeper under the blankets, pressing his forehead against Eduard’s back. “Are you sure we have to go?”
Eduard hummed and rolled over, one arm draping over Roswald’s waist while the other reached up to twine their fingers together, a quiet rasp filling the space under the covers as their rings rubbed against each other. “Oui, mon cher,” he mumbled, voice hoarse from sleep. “Teachers bring the potluck.”
Roswald grumbled, squeezing Eduard’s hand. “Do you think I’ll get fired if I bring sauerkraut?”
“Only if it’s rancid.” Roswald heard rather than saw Eduard’s smile, and felt it in the curve of his lips as he pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Come now, you don’t want to disappoint the children, do you?”
“We’re villains, liebchen. Disappointment comes with the territory.”
Eduard hummed as he withdrew, tossing back the blankets. “Did I mention the heroes invited the mayor?”
Roswald considered this, then sighed and sat up. “You drive a very hard bargain.”
Eduard’s smile grew as he got to his feet. “It comes with being a genius. How does crepes for breakfast sound?”
Roswald ran a hand through his hair, barely flinching as he shocked himself on his own static. He was far too used to it at this point. “Fine.”
“Bananas, chocolate, and whipped cream for you, as usual?”
“Ja, ja, ja.”
Eduard smiled and sashayed out of the room, exaggerating his hips for Roswald’s benefit. Roswald smiled, too, in spite of himself, and looked down at his hands automatically to hide the blush he could already feel heating his face. For a man he’d met in jail, of all places, Eduard really could be too good for him sometimes.
